Sunflowers are moving now

[spikeislander]

Trying a few this year

 

[Andy26]

Love the windmill, I'm assuming Flour mill and not a water pump?

That will be quite a picture when they're in flower!

 

[carpenter1]

Trying a few this year

When were they planted?

 

[spikeislander]

Planted 29th April but it’s been wet and pretty cold until recently .
It’s a post mill (1770), has got sheets for sails and has been turned in recent years, just had new sales but needs some more work now inside.
I’m trying for the PYO market and photographers can donate to a just giving page.

 

[Daniel]

Trying a few this year

What seed rate did you plant at? I planted 10kg or so at 7.5kg an acre round our poultry sheds and barely any came up!

 

[spikeislander]

About 20kg a ha, mixed dwarf and standard together. Bit of fert 0.18.18.18s pre drilling .

 

[nick...]

I chucked 10 kg in drill when drilling wild bird strips.have only found one sunflower growing on about 3 acres yet everyone my mum has planted looks great
nick…

 

[corkman2013]

What varieties do you use

 

[Post Driver]

The windmill looks very similar to the one at Ivinghoe, not the same is it?

 

[Bignor Farmer]

Snap!! Mine are beginning to fly too, they certainly love a bit of sunshine

 

[Hindsight]

Commercial Sunflower production in Lincs on silt has sequential sowings. Reasonable area now grown by major outdoor flower producers. First under plastic and then open. Sown in beds, similar to Onions, so pickers can walk between. If I get near a field or two this week will take a picture to post on the thread.

 

[spikeislander]

The windmill looks very similar to the one at Ivinghoe, not the same is it?

No Bedfordshire , Stevington

 

[spikeislander]

Snap!! Mine are beginning to fly too, they certainly love a bit of sunshine

Yours look better than mine , is that a maze you’ve put in or just areas that didn’t come? Looks too good to have that many gaps

 

[spikeislander]

What varieties do you use

I’ll have to look but nothing special, commercial type.
Next year I’ll get branching type I think

 

[Bignor Farmer]

Yours look better than mine , is that a maze you’ve put in or just areas that didn’t come? Looks too good to have that many gaps

Top secret sunflower maize and picking patch! Quite a lot of rabbit grazing around the edges which I wasn’t expecting but overall quite pleased, a bit of fun with gps.

Wife; “can we do a sunflower maize this year, I need it to look like a Roman mosaic and it has to flower all of August”

Me; “ No problem! “

 

[spikeislander]

That my friend is very impressive .

 

[spikeislander]

This is my first year but Facebook is very excited so I may step it up next year.
Tbh I got fed up with people walking all over the crops taking pictures of the windmill so I thought it would soften the blow if I’ve took a few quid out of their pocket .

 

[Bignor Farmer]

This is my first year but Facebook is very excited so I may step it up next year.
Tbh I got fed up with people walking all over the crops taking pictures of the windmill so I thought it would soften the blow if I’ve took a few quid out of their pocket .

I don’t really understand the flower picking part of it but seems really popular in other places so we’re giving it a go. Having two things in the same place definitely adds value.

We did a maize maze last year and it really surprised me how happy people are to pay a few quid to walk through a crop then buy a cream tea. Something we all take for granted but seems really good value to visitors. Always nice to take money off people!

It’s also quite a fun project to do.